THE lamentable and still-burning fire at the abandoned sanitary landfill in Navotas City has had an unexpected benefit, in that it has provided an opportunity for one of the government’s least noticeable agencies, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), to demonstrate its value to the country. The manner in which PhilSA has met that opportunity has been impressive, to say the least.
It is quite possible that many people are not aware that PhilSA even exists. It was created by Republic Act 11363, or the Philippine Space Act, in September 2019, and is an attached agency of the Office of the President. Its mandate is to manage all national issues and activities related to space science and technology, which broadly includes satellite-based monitoring for national security, development and hazard management; space-related research and development; industry capacity-building; scientific education and training; and coordinating international cooperation efforts.
It is also responsible, in cooperation with the University of the Philippines and the Japan Space Agency, of monitoring the country’s three small homegrown satellites — Diwata-2, Maya-5 and Maya-6 — as well as managing Earth observation data shared by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus program and from the NovaSAR-1 radar satellite.
This work by PhilSA is what has proved to be most valuable in the ongoing Navotas fire. Although there were a few reports that it was actually PhilSA that first detected the blaze in the abandoned landfill after it began on April 10, it is not clear that was the case. Nevertheless, because the landfill is abandoned, and located along a relatively remote stretch of the Manila Bay shore with the nearest residents some distance away, determining the size of the fire from ground level was difficult.
Since April 11, PhilSA has been providing constant monitoring and updates about the fire from satellite data. This has been helpful in mapping out a plan to extinguish it, but has been an even bigger help in monitoring air quality. PhilSA’s collected data essentially can provide an accurate map of air quality over a large area all at once, as well as showing how smoke from the landfill fire is moving. Using this, the authorities have been able to provide timely warnings of hazardous air quality conditions, as well as forecast where conditions may worsen.
Most of what PhilSA does at this point is research, but what is encouraging about that is its focus on practical relevance. For example, the agency recently signed a partnership agreement with the National Irrigation Administration to develop a program for using Earth observation data to map out irrigation systems and monitor water resources.
Other programs of note being pursued by the agency include an ongoing study of the effectiveness of satellite internet to improve connectivity in the Philippines, and a program to distribute satellite radio Earth stations to schools, primarily as part of space education and an enhancement to science education, but these can also serve as emergency communications in times of disaster. PhilSA also manages programs for regional and Asia-wide sharing of air pollution data, as well as programs to integrate Earth observation data with local government units and other institutions for environmental monitoring. More direct potential economic benefits are not overlooked, either; one of the agency’s key programs seeks to build up technical and manufacturing capacity for space-related technology and hardware.
Describing the Philippines as a “space-faring” nation might seem odd to most people, but indeed we are. There is some pride to be taken in that, but on the other hand, with the space industry growing so rapidly — from about 14 countries with their own satellites at the beginning of this century, to about 90 now — it is not that unique. What may be unique, however, in a country where the government’s ambitions grossly exceed its reach as a matter of tradition, is an agency that has not only mapped out sensible, achievable and progressive long-term ambitions, but is pursuing them in a measured and effective way.
As PhilSA is entirely led by scientists, the more sardonic among us might note that the agency is a good example of what can happen when true subject-matter experts instead of politicians are put in charge of things; or it would be, if the good people at PhilSA were more concerned with being an example than quietly getting on with their work. We hope they don’t mind our having brought them some attention, because the country needs more like them.
